Despite his candor, Pope Francis did reaffirm Catholic teaching that calls homosexual acts a sin, and he conceded that while the ban on female priests in the church was definitive, women should be granted a bigger role.

FOX19's Brett Hoffland had a chance to speak with a variety of people on all sides of the issue to see what they thought regarding Francis' comments.

"You see it as one of the first recorded times in history that the pope is actually acknowledging gay people, so it's nice to see that gay is now in the vernacular of the Vatican, but there's a long way to go for LGBT Catholics," said Newsome.

Francis' predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, signed a document in 2005 that said men who have deep-rooted homosexual tendencies should not be priests. Father David Endres says he doesn't necessarily see this as a step forward or backward for the Catholic Church.

"Certainly within the church we have a broad spectrum of people, certainly those that do struggle with this, but the reality is we are all called to chastity and that's what the church is trying to re-affirm," said Father Endres.

Students who survived the Florida school shooting are preparing to flood the Capitol pushing to ban the assault-style rifle used to kill 17 people, vowing to make changes in the November election if they can't...

Students who survived the Florida school shooting are preparing to flood the Capitol pushing to ban the assault-style rifle used to kill 17 people, vowing to make changes in the November election if they can't persuade lawmakers to change law now.

The Dallas Mavericks have hired outside counsel to investigate allegations of inappropriate conduct by former team president Terdema Ussery in a Sports Illustrated report that described a hostile workplace environment for women.

The Dallas Mavericks have hired outside counsel to investigate allegations of inappropriate conduct by former team president Terdema Ussery in a Sports Illustrated report that described a hostile workplace environment for women.